25 February 2008

True Test Of Citizenship

I wonder if we’d ever see those thingsclaimed as making us so different are, infact, ordinary and commonplace. We’refree with theories why being Australian isunique experience the rest of the Worldenvies – even if we say so ourselves! It’sa belief we’re born with rather than gainby meeting members of other the races.But the only way we’d know was whenwe came face to face with the evidence.

Recently a politically devious campaign toexpress citizenship as a test of worthinessto be Australian was put away. Most of uswouldn’t pass – try it and see if you containwhat were touted the essential ingredients.The stone cold truth is we’re different in theway we care about our fellow man, give himspace to be himself, but offer aid when it’sseen he needs a hand. When I read the wordsof Inga Clendinnen I saw the light enhanced.

She told of getting stuck in the sand at anAustralian cultural icon – the beach, wherepeople watched and assessed whether sheneeded a hand from a safe distance. Themessage was, don’t interfere if they are okay,but despair is easily accessed and when seenhelp eventuates in a kindly but completelyabstract way. Inga has no fears of what testsbeing Australian – it reveals simple sameness,commonplace origins and shared beliefs.

Inga Clendinnen is a multi-award-winning historian whose books include Tiger's Eye, Reading the Holocaust (a New York Times "Best Book of the Year") and Dancing with Strangers (all from Text Publishing). In 2006, she was awarded an AO. She divides her year between Melbourne and far north Queensland, but never strays too far from the beach.